Steve Harker Joliet preview

Harker hopes new blower will be ticket to winner's circle
JOLIET, Ill. - Aussie NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car veteran Steve Harker is
hoping cool air and a new PSI Supercharger will be the final ingredients
to end his search for his first win of...

Harker hopes new blower will be ticket to winner's circle

JOLIET, Ill. - Aussie NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car veteran Steve Harker is
hoping cool air and a new PSI Supercharger will be the final ingredients
to end his search for his first win of the year during this weekend's
CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of
Chicago. After running strong numbers in Topeka two weeks ago, Harker is
hoping the additional laps he will gain this weekend will help him turn
the corner in harnessing what his new supercharger has to offer.

Harker, originally from Brisbane, Aus., had planned to switch to a new
carbon fiber injector in Topeka, but decided at the last minute to put
his new supercharger on with the old, conventional style injector.

"We finally decided we would probably get more out of putting the new
blower on it in Topeka," said Harker. "We could tell as soon as we
started it that we had a better blower. We started off fairly rich, and
kept leaning on it in small increments, and it was still rich when we
lost the first round. We just have to relearn what adjustments to make
to this new blower. Hopefully this weekend we'll learn what it takes to
tune it up a bit. We'll be racing at a good track in good conditions, so
hopefully we can put the power to it and run better."

Harker is quick to point out he plans to run the carbon injector along
with making some other changes when the time is right.

"It takes consistency to go rounds," explained Harker. "Right now we
just need to focus on this new blower, thats a pretty big change for us.
When we start to get a handle on it, we'll try the new injector. We only
have a few more races before we take the summer off, and when we come
back, we'll have a new Monte Carlo body to learn as well."